PSYCH 150 MASTER EXAM PREP
CHAPTERS 6 and 7 LEARNING and
MEMORY 150 HIGH YIELD MCQS WITH
BOLD ANSWERS and DETAILED
EXPLANATIONS
Psychology 150: Chapters 6 & 7 (Learning & Memory)
Master Exam
CHAPTER 6: Learning (Classical Conditioning,
Operant Conditioning, and Observational Learning)
1. A researcher ring a bell immediately before delivering a
puff of air to a participant's eye. The air puff naturally
causes the participant to blink. After several pairings, the
participant blinks as soon as the bell rings. In this classical
conditioning paradigm, what is the bell classified as?
A. Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
B. Unconditioned Response (UR)
C. Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Correct Answer:
C. Rationale: The bell starts as a neutral stimulus but,
after being repeatedly paired with the unconditioned air
puff, it comes to trigger the conditioned blinking response
on its own.
D. Conditioned Response (CR)
2. A child develops an intense fear of a specific white
laboratory rat after the sight of the rat is paired with a
loud, terrifying noise. A few days later, the child exhibits a
similar fear response when presented with a white rabbit,
a white fur coat, and a fluffy white dog. What learning
principle does this behavior illustrate?
A. Stimulus Discrimination
B. Stimulus Generalization Correct Answer: B.
, Rationale: Stimulus generalization occurs when an
organism demonstrates the conditioned response to
stimuli that are highly similar to the original conditioned
stimulus.
C. Spontaneous Recovery
D. Higher-Order Conditioning
3. A dog has been classically conditioned to salivate at the
sound of a specific buzzer because it reliably predicts food
delivery. The researcher stops providing food after the
buzzer sounds. Over the next two weeks, the dog's
salivation response to the buzzer drops to zero. What has
occurred?
A. Acquisition
B. Habituation
C. Extinction Correct Answer: C. Rationale:
Extinction in classical conditioning takes place when the
conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without
the unconditioned stimulus (US), causing the conditioned
response to weaken and eventually vanish.
D. Latent Learning
4. Following the complete extinction of a conditioned fear
response to a specific tone, a laboratory rat is placed back
in its home cage for a rest period of one week. When
returned to the experimental chamber, the tone is played
again, and the rat instantly displays a moderate freezing
fear response. What is this phenomenon called?
A. Spontaneous Recovery Correct Answer: A.
Rationale: Spontaneous recovery is the sudden
reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response
after a period of rest or non-exposure to the conditioned
stimulus.
C. Negative Reinforcement
, C. Discrimination Learning
D. Backward Conditioning
5. A young child throws a massive temper tantrum at the
checkout lane of a grocery store because they want a candy
bar. To stop the embarrassing screaming, the parent buys
the child the candy bar. The next time they visit the store,
the child immediately throws another tantrum. From the
child's perspective, how has their behavior been
altered?
A. The behavior has been weakened via negative
punishment.
B. The behavior has been modified via classical counter-
conditioning.
C. The behavior has been positively reinforced.
Correct Answer: C. Rationale: Positive
reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus (the
candy bar) immediately following a behavior (the
tantrum), which increases the likelihood of that behavior
happening again.
D. The behavior has been negatively reinforced.
6. Consider the same grocery store scenario described in the
previous question. From the parent's perspective, what
learning mechanism explains why they bought the candy
bar to stop the screaming?
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Negative Reinforcement Correct Answer: B.
Rationale: Negative reinforcement increases a
behavior (buying candy) because it removes an
unpleasant, aversive stimulus (the child's loud
screaming).
C. Positive Punishment
D. Negative Punishment
, 7. A high school student receives a structural $50 fine for
driving 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in a school
zone. The financial penalty successfully stops the student
from speeding in the future. How should this consequence
be categorized?
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Negative Reinforcement
C. Positive Punishment Correct Answer: C.
Rationale: Positive punishment involves adding an
unpleasant consequence (the $50 fine) following a
behavior to decrease the frequency of that behavior.
D. Negative Punishment
8. A teenager breaks their strict curfew by arriving home two
hours late on a Friday night. As a consequence, their
parents revoke their driving privileges and take away their
car keys for the next two weeks. What type of operant
conditioning consequence does this illustrate?
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Negative Reinforcement
C. Positive Punishment
D. Negative Punishment (Omission Training)
Correct Answer: D. Rationale: Negative
punishment involves removing a pleasant, desirable
stimulus (the car keys/driving privileges) following an
unwanted behavior to decrease the occurrence of that
behavior.
9. An employee works at a telemarketing firm where they
receive a financial commission bonus for every 10
products they successfully sell over the phone, regardless
of how many individual calls it takes to reach that target.
Which schedule of reinforcement is being applied?
A. Fixed-Ratio Schedule Correct Answer: A.
Rationale: A fixed-ratio schedule delivers
CHAPTERS 6 and 7 LEARNING and
MEMORY 150 HIGH YIELD MCQS WITH
BOLD ANSWERS and DETAILED
EXPLANATIONS
Psychology 150: Chapters 6 & 7 (Learning & Memory)
Master Exam
CHAPTER 6: Learning (Classical Conditioning,
Operant Conditioning, and Observational Learning)
1. A researcher ring a bell immediately before delivering a
puff of air to a participant's eye. The air puff naturally
causes the participant to blink. After several pairings, the
participant blinks as soon as the bell rings. In this classical
conditioning paradigm, what is the bell classified as?
A. Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
B. Unconditioned Response (UR)
C. Conditioned Stimulus (CS) Correct Answer:
C. Rationale: The bell starts as a neutral stimulus but,
after being repeatedly paired with the unconditioned air
puff, it comes to trigger the conditioned blinking response
on its own.
D. Conditioned Response (CR)
2. A child develops an intense fear of a specific white
laboratory rat after the sight of the rat is paired with a
loud, terrifying noise. A few days later, the child exhibits a
similar fear response when presented with a white rabbit,
a white fur coat, and a fluffy white dog. What learning
principle does this behavior illustrate?
A. Stimulus Discrimination
B. Stimulus Generalization Correct Answer: B.
, Rationale: Stimulus generalization occurs when an
organism demonstrates the conditioned response to
stimuli that are highly similar to the original conditioned
stimulus.
C. Spontaneous Recovery
D. Higher-Order Conditioning
3. A dog has been classically conditioned to salivate at the
sound of a specific buzzer because it reliably predicts food
delivery. The researcher stops providing food after the
buzzer sounds. Over the next two weeks, the dog's
salivation response to the buzzer drops to zero. What has
occurred?
A. Acquisition
B. Habituation
C. Extinction Correct Answer: C. Rationale:
Extinction in classical conditioning takes place when the
conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without
the unconditioned stimulus (US), causing the conditioned
response to weaken and eventually vanish.
D. Latent Learning
4. Following the complete extinction of a conditioned fear
response to a specific tone, a laboratory rat is placed back
in its home cage for a rest period of one week. When
returned to the experimental chamber, the tone is played
again, and the rat instantly displays a moderate freezing
fear response. What is this phenomenon called?
A. Spontaneous Recovery Correct Answer: A.
Rationale: Spontaneous recovery is the sudden
reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response
after a period of rest or non-exposure to the conditioned
stimulus.
C. Negative Reinforcement
, C. Discrimination Learning
D. Backward Conditioning
5. A young child throws a massive temper tantrum at the
checkout lane of a grocery store because they want a candy
bar. To stop the embarrassing screaming, the parent buys
the child the candy bar. The next time they visit the store,
the child immediately throws another tantrum. From the
child's perspective, how has their behavior been
altered?
A. The behavior has been weakened via negative
punishment.
B. The behavior has been modified via classical counter-
conditioning.
C. The behavior has been positively reinforced.
Correct Answer: C. Rationale: Positive
reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus (the
candy bar) immediately following a behavior (the
tantrum), which increases the likelihood of that behavior
happening again.
D. The behavior has been negatively reinforced.
6. Consider the same grocery store scenario described in the
previous question. From the parent's perspective, what
learning mechanism explains why they bought the candy
bar to stop the screaming?
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Negative Reinforcement Correct Answer: B.
Rationale: Negative reinforcement increases a
behavior (buying candy) because it removes an
unpleasant, aversive stimulus (the child's loud
screaming).
C. Positive Punishment
D. Negative Punishment
, 7. A high school student receives a structural $50 fine for
driving 20 miles per hour over the speed limit in a school
zone. The financial penalty successfully stops the student
from speeding in the future. How should this consequence
be categorized?
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Negative Reinforcement
C. Positive Punishment Correct Answer: C.
Rationale: Positive punishment involves adding an
unpleasant consequence (the $50 fine) following a
behavior to decrease the frequency of that behavior.
D. Negative Punishment
8. A teenager breaks their strict curfew by arriving home two
hours late on a Friday night. As a consequence, their
parents revoke their driving privileges and take away their
car keys for the next two weeks. What type of operant
conditioning consequence does this illustrate?
A. Positive Reinforcement
B. Negative Reinforcement
C. Positive Punishment
D. Negative Punishment (Omission Training)
Correct Answer: D. Rationale: Negative
punishment involves removing a pleasant, desirable
stimulus (the car keys/driving privileges) following an
unwanted behavior to decrease the occurrence of that
behavior.
9. An employee works at a telemarketing firm where they
receive a financial commission bonus for every 10
products they successfully sell over the phone, regardless
of how many individual calls it takes to reach that target.
Which schedule of reinforcement is being applied?
A. Fixed-Ratio Schedule Correct Answer: A.
Rationale: A fixed-ratio schedule delivers
